Where There Is Truth There Are Lies
by WhiteQueen1999
Summary: Six months after Bangkok, Svetlana desperate for advice on her husband turns to his former lover for help, a conversation on the telephone completely changes her priorities in her marriage. In order to do what she thinks is right she reveals her deepest secrets uncovering old lies. Anatoly/Florence! Svetlana and Florence FRIENDSHIP, NO SLASH. Rated T for slight language.


**Where there is Truth there are Lies**

**This story is based off my detailed conversations and Chess jokes made with my good friend Awesomenesssquared (dear god! I hope I spelled that right) Shout out to Awesomenesssquared; Svetlana and Florence gossiping about their experiences with Anatoly?!**

**Anyways, on with the story, I don't own Chess, Florence Anatoly or Svetlana or ANYONE! I OWN NOTHING! NOOOOTHING!... How unfortunate. This story takes place between my story Falling In and my story Falling Apart, so roughly five or six months after the end of the musical. **

"Thank you Walter." Florence told her employer as she exited his car, for the past few months he or Frederick drove her home so she would not "physically exert'" herself.

"Anytime Miss Vassy, take care, I shall see you tomorrow. We have to discuss budgeting for the project."

"I agree, but it can wait, can't it?" Florence yawned.

"Of course, go get some rest." He said waving her off. None of her colleagues were very sympathetic, but Walter was the most so. It was hard to meet Freddie's eyes nowadays.

She walked, rather slumped in posture to the door of her flat where she unlocked the door with clumsy fingers. Once inside, she set her bag on the floor and leaned exhausted against the door. _This never gets any easier, does it. _Coming home to an empty house, after just a year of always coming home or being home for Anatoly, she was too used to the pleasant experience. Reluctantly she removed her coat and hung it neatly on its hanger, then walked through into the sitting room, which was also integrated with the kitchen. She sat heavily on the couch, closing her eyes briefly. She waited there, listening to the sounds of the house; she sat there for some time, until the sound of her telephone ringing disturbed her. She stood as quickly as she could, which was unfortunately not too quickly and strode over to the desk where she kept the telephone. She removed the receiver from the hook.

"Hello, Florence Vassy speaking, who is this?" She said, trying to sound regal.

"Florence! Hello! This is Svetlana Sergievsky."

"Svetlana?! What is it?!" Florence was slightly alarmed, why would she be calling her, unless there was something wrong. "Did something happen? Is-" She stopped, not wanting to offend Svetlana.

"Everything is fine, Florence. I just wanted to ask you something."

Florence trembled, this seemed like a disastrous idea, it was all to simple for Svetlana to find out about Anatoly's child that she now carried and for it to be Florence's guilt for ruining her lover's life _again. _"What kind of something?" Florence asked hesitantly.

"About Anatoly."

_Crap. _

"Carry on?" Florence said.

"I don't know him at all! I know I thought I did, I know! But God almighty, he's changed so much. I don't know how to rebuild a marriage with he that I don't know anymore."

Florence sighed, _I do not want to give her advice on how to make Anatoly love her again! _

"Now, I realize this is rather illogical for me to ask you, but you did understand so well when we met in Bangkok."

"Yes, well. What do you mean he's changed?"

"It's very strange, when he is around the whole family, he seems cheerful, but the cheer isn't real, I can't really describe it. I guess artificial is the word?"

"Yes. Continue?"

"Then when he's alone with me, he's so very distant. And when he's alone with himself, he vegetates. I want to rebuild our lives, if only for the children. I'm certain Tolya and I won't ever be the same. But what do I do?"

Florence was very quiet, trying to think through this eccentric new view on Anatoly. "It seems odd, to me that he is cold with you. In my experience, he is cold with larger groups of people and more in his element in intimate settings. Though, I'm sure you knew that. But if it's artificial, I can only guess that he feels guilty about how things have been for these past years. I knew his motivations in leaving were to stay to his one true obligation, _we_ know it. And to try and rebuild his life with you and your daughters, it wasn't expected to be easy, he didn't presume it, and I'm sure his is very remorseful of his behavior, and is unsure of how to jump back in with you and your family."

"It certainly makes sense" Svetlana spoke slowly. "But what do I do?"

"I always found that getting to the point was the best thing to do with all males, especially Anatoly, I could never get him to realize what I was implying unless I told him bluntly. Florence advised; _I hate this conversation!_ "So, what you must do is talk to him truthfully and discuss your future and this issues you've had in the past and try to solve them, and if you can forgive him, then do and tell him so. If you can't then tell him so and work on trusting." Florence felt like crying, she tried to convince herself this was to help Anatoly with his own happiness, but it tore her heart apart to advise his wife on how to make him forget her. _He couldn't forget me, and this is for his happiness Florence!_

"Thank you Florence, you were ever so gracious in helping me, even when it isn't your place to."

"I try to right the wrongs I do. And Svetlana? Can I have your advice on a confidential matter?"

"Confidential?"

"Since I don't want to ruin everything again, you must never speak of this to your husband, and you must know the facts of what went down with Anatoly and I?"

"Yes, I can say that I do know about the intimacy. But why can't I tell him?"

"It's about children, I don't want him involved, I can't do that to the pair of you. But I just want to talk to someone about it."

Svetlana muttered in Russian. "So your pregnant? With his child?" Svetlana had to admit, Florence being pregnant gave her a sadistic sense of satisfaction, when she had met Florence in Bangkok...Oh! How Svetlana had envied her! Florence had been lovely, her body still untouched by pregnancy and childbirth. Lovely, so young looking and she had hated her for it because Svetlana knew; that she herself could never look like that again. But she wasn't happy that it was Anatoly's child that Florence now carried.

Florence made an indistinct sound in her throat before replying; "Yes. It was not meant to be though, we didn't…"

"I know. I can't say I'm terribly pleased but I can try to help you. What do you need?"

"I'm terrified and I don't know anything about children, I was raised in an orphanage for the better part of my life, and I can't remember my own parents too well."

Svetlana sighed pityingly. "Well-"

"You mustn't tell Anatoly! Promise?" When Svetlana hesitated Florence demanded. "Swear it Svetlana!"

"OK, I promise!" Svetlana said calmly.

For the next hour Florence and Svetlana conversed in detail about children, somehow like old friends, swapping horror stories and experiences. Svetlana shared her knowledge with Florence and tried to reassure her it wasn't so terrible. After an in-depth conversation they wandered off to talking about their experiences with him. Florence was in the middle of describing her first encounter with Anatoly in Merano, when Svetlana gasped in horror. "Der'mo!*"

"What?"

"Anatoly is back! Shit!"

Florence heard some background noise of a door shutting, Svetlana sighed. "Well, good luck, I'd better go! Thank you!"

"Thank you!"

The line with Florence disconnected as Anatoly entered the kitchen, his manner hadn't changed, he didn't smile, he nodded to her as a greeting. But noticing her suspicious attitude about the telephone, he raised an eyebrow.  
"Who was that?"

Svetlana froze, she had expected him to walk off and not ask anything, as usual. "Uh, my mother?" She replied.

"Your mother has a telephone?" Anatoly asked, clearly not believing her.

"Yes, she recently obtained one, not that you'd know."

"Not this again Sveta-"

"Anatoly, it's not that, we need to talk."

"We are talking," He said tiredly.

Svetlana rolled her eyes, not entirely sure where she was going with this, she couldn't reveal Florence's secret, but she had to let her husband go. Her conversation with Florence had made her forget how she wanted her husband back. _Florence needs him more than I, and with my secret it is not right to tie him down here._

"Anatoly, this isn't working, we both know it. It's been five months and this relationship is only deteriorating, you wish you were with _her _and I know it!"

_God knows I want you back, like it was before…_

"Svetlana…"

"Don't deny it! I know you better than that even if I can't explain to myself your behavior of late." Svetlana snapped. "Are you even guilty about what you did? Florence said you must be-" She had spoken to fast, she clamped a mental hand over her mouth.

"Florence?" Anatoly asked curiously. "When did you speak to her?"

"It doesn't matter, what matters is; Are you remorseful for leaving us and Russia?"

"Yes, I am."

"But you do not feel bad for loving Florence do you?"

"No, I don't" Anatoly said bluntly, it stung Svetlana to hear it.

"And you do still love her don't you?"

"Yes." Anatoly said almost inaudibly.

"Well then." Svetlana said regally. "You must go to her, she still needs you."

"So do our children, and I can't just leave and spend the rest of my life somewhere else! It's against the law!"

"Not if we get a legal divorce." Svetlana suggested.

"How? I can't file for a divorce when you've done nothing wrong." Anatoly snapped. "And the children, I can't leave them either, I am their father, I don't think it's right!"

"Well! It is, because you're not their father!" Svetlana hollered. Her secret was out, she'd had an affair far before Anatoly had left, but she had lied to him for years because she loved him. Her sins had become very clear to her during the conversation with Florence. It was amazing how her objectives had changed completely from a telephone call.

"_What?" _Anatoly looked like he had been slapped in the face.

"Nothing is tying you down here, go to Florence! We both know you returned here for chess, to rescue 'Florence's Father' and for the children." Svetlana reasoned. "Florence's father is beyond rescue, and the children aren't yours, everything you believed in was based on lies, except chess and Florence. Clear out and you'll get both!" _You'll be happy! _Svetlana wanted to cry.

Anatoly listened to her reason and he wished for nothing more than to desert this god-forsaken house and country and find Florence. But he couldn't grasp the fact that his beloved children were in fact someone else's. "Who? Who?" He gasped, horrified and more than a little hurt at being constantly lied to.

"Molokov, your former second." Svetlana said frankly.

Irony was the first thought in Anatoly's mind, _the man who was orthodox in his chaperoning of me in Merano is actually the father of my TWO children._ Then betrayal occurred to him, he was quiet for sometime, starring at the floor.

"Say something!" Svetlana begged.

"It's ironic." Anatoly spat viciously.

"How so?" Svetlana said trembling.

"He was very against any kind of intimacy between Florence and I in Merano."

"Oh gross!" Svetlana winced.

"Not like _that_, he didn't like us to talk and he didn't like her spending the night in my room."

"_Anatoly!"_ Svetlana winced; she didn't want to hear it, whatsoever.

"We didn't- we weren't doing anything then, she had just broken things off with Frederick Trumper." Anatoly spat still viciously.

"So you thought she might enjoy warming your bed?" Svetlana asked scandalized.

"Now, I see why you and Molokov were so _compatible, _he said much the same thing to me that night."  
"Ha!"

"But you're right, we must go our separate ways. Tomorrow, we shall go to the court office and talk divorce. Tonight, leave me be please." He snapped, storming from the kitchen, out of her sight.

Once he was gone, Svetlana wept and reached for the phone, with shaking fingers she dialed Molokov's number. Upstairs, Anatoly sat in the spare bedroom and stared at his hands, as he tried to cope with his own emotional turmoil. And far away in England, Florence wept for her own loneliness and her loss.

**And Florence is crying... AGAIN! I honestly think I put the poor woman through too much?**

**Anyways the Russian dictionary: **

***Der'mo-(Dare-mo) Shit! **

**That's all for now dear readers! **

**-R&R- I want feedback on how I portrayed Svetlana and Anatoly! **

**So long! **

**Fantine9430**


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